Daimajin also known as Majin, Monster of Terror, is a lesser know blend of samurai drama and giant living statue movie. Daiei Films, best know for their Gamera series produced this at a time when their own features (and those of rival studio Toho) where starting to get a lot sillier. But be prepared for a full on story of feudal warlords and forced labour camps - the stone idol only starts to come to life during the last ten minutes. Is it all worth the wait? Is all the plotting and all the debate about disrespecting the gods building to something great? The short answer is yes. This is actually one of the best in the daikaiju genre, worlds apart from its contemporaries in more ways than one.
The film itself is sort of an anomaly when you consider how things usually turn out in these kind of movies. It's a genre full of brightly coloured superheroes, size changing robots and of course monolithic monsters beating each other with tree branches and energy blasts. But here the tone is very particular and it's worlds away from the utterly juvenile sort of efforts that Daiei would soon begin to churn out to depict their famous turtle creature battling with alien squid and giant butter knives. It's a sombre and atmospheric affair depicting a noble family being ousted by scheming rivals who want to take over their lands and force everyone into several years of misery.
As the story opens there's a lot of talk about the wrath of Daimajin, and a ceremony to keep him sealed away and appease the god that keeps him immobile. What kind of religion is this? It's hard to say. A lot of the characters dismiss this idea as folk lore or simply treat the whole thing with disdain when anyone raises the topic. If there's a problem with the film it's that this idea is always rather vague. The coup that starts kick starts the plot interrupts the ceremony, but nothing dramatic happens. Years pass and local peasants are made slaves young and old alike, and still the big guy slumbers.
It's only when the ruling clan have had enough of this religious talk that they set out to smash the statue, and even then it takes a desperate prayer from exiled princess Kozasa (Miwa Takada) for anything more than an earthquake to happen after the bad guys try and break Daimajin's head. It's a very slow burn story, and much of the focus is simply on medieval treachery and power hungry villains. However it's all well worth the wait and at least the story is interesting, if unexceptional. It's best to sit back and enjoy the dour mood in the knowledge that all hell will break loose in the climax.
It's a very stylish film throughout with plenty of misty woodland scenery and sinister castle decor. Some of the design choices in the climax are particularly nice as storm clouds brew and the sky becomes turbulent, but in general it's an appealing film visually. One of the stand out moments arrives in the third act as things begin to go sour and heir to the throne Tadafumi (Yoshihiko Aoyama) is caught sneaking into the town. As priestess Shinobu (Otome Tsukimiya) pleads with the clan leaders and eventually curses them, the lighting in the room dramatically shifts before the scene is punctuated by sudden violence. It's theatrical, but very memorable.
Of course there's also a great finale in which a giant living statue smashes up the whole place. Beyond a few ropey composite shots the special effects really stand up to the test of time as the rampage goes down and soldiers try to stop the monster with guns and chains. There are no obvious rubber skins and no awkward suitmation movements here, it's all just a rigid human figure slowing wreaking havoc without any mercy. The bad guys gave him a rude awakening and left him with splitting headache so he crushes them; this is a kaiju I can really sympathize with.
Perhaps this is less popular because it's often violent and frequently bleak, but ultimately it's hard to see why this is overlooked. There are two sequels and even a television series so it's not exactly a one off affair. Daimajin doesn't give a thumbs up or offer friendship to children, he just stomps on everyone, some more brutally than others. It's interesting that he's not entirely sentient at all, there are hints that his power comes from a supernatural force or a spirit that can be bargained with, but otherwise his rampage is without mercy. Without a lot of pleading he would simply destroy everything in sight.
Overall this is a fascinating merger of two styles of storytelling, both which have a long history in Japanese cinema. It's a shame this kind of mixture of history and creature feature hasn't been done more often, but it seems that science fiction is always the winner when it comes to this kind of thing. With modern technology a return to this idea would probably be incredible if they added plenty of siege engines and medieval weapons to the proceedings. But I guess mazers, helicopters and alien invaders have more appeal. For fans of the genre this is an essential, for everyone else just bear with it and check out an overlooked gem.
4/5
